Authors: Albert HiuKa Fok, Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience, McGill University and Sabrina Chierzi, Research Associate, Neuroscience, McGill University Astrocytes — named for their star-like shape — are a type of brain cell as abundant as neurons in the central nervous system, but little is known about their role in brain health and disease. Many neurological […]
Author: Ramón Muñoz-Chápuli has been Professor of Animal Biology in the University of Málaga until his retirement. He has investigated for forty years in the fields of developmental biology and animal evolution. Nematode worms may not be very popular, but what we know about their abundance is astonishing. After arthropods, chordates, and molluscs, they constitute […]
Author: Ramón Muñoz-Chápuli has been Professor of Animal Biology in the University of Málaga until his retirement. He has investigated for forty years in the fields of developmental biology and animal evolution. Parasitism is very common among invertebrates, but much less so among vertebrates. The case of lampreys is well known. They attach to the […]
To eat, a cell needs to carry its main nutrients (sugars, lipids, and peptides –pieces of proteins–) across the cell membrane. To do so, it has a number of molecular transporters. Interestingly, although sugar transporters are highly specific to the type of sugar they transport, peptide transporters are not picky at all. This promiscuity has […]
reading Author: Juan F. Trillo, PhD in Linguistics and Philosophy (U. Autónoma de Madrid), PhD in Literary Studies (U. Complutense de Madrid). Science often ends up confirming what we have always known —or at least suspected— through research whose results are in line with what intuition suggests. This is the case of reading in young […]
Bilingualism, or the ability to speak two or more languages, has become increasingly important in today’s globalized world. Not only does it facilitate communication and cultural understanding between people of different languages and backgrounds, but it has also been shown to have cognitive benefits that can help promote healthy aging. Research has shown that bilingualism […]
connectivity Author: Juan F. Trillo, PhD in Linguistics and Philosophy (U. Autónoma de Madrid), PhD in Literary Studies (U. Complutense de Madrid). The plasticity of the brain and its ability to adapt to the most diverse requirements and demands, such as the use of a specific language, has been well known for years . This […]
The acquisition of the native language (L1) is fast and unconscious. By the time children are 4-5 years old, their competence in the L1 is already adult-like (Aparici & Igualada, 2019). One of the underlying factors of this competence is linguistic exposure, since children constantly listen to their caretakers speak the native language. Another factor […]
nicotine Author: Marta Irigoyen is a postdoctoral researcher at CIC bioGUNE Tobacco smoke contains a toxic mix of more than 7,000 chemicals. Among them, nicotine is a major cigarette component associated with human tobacco consumption and addiction. Despite not being a carcinogen (an agent that is able to generate cancer), several studies have reported the […]
Men and women are different. It has been long known that pregnancy and motherhood alter women’s brains. What was so far not clear was what happens to the brains of fathers. Recent research has shown that having children rewires fathers’ brains as well. Mother’s brains change to adapt to the demands of their babies, that […]